From the Niederrheinische Musik-Zeitung.
On the 25th July, died in Paris, of a neuralgic affection, the Prince de la Moskowa, son of Marshal Ney, who gained his title of Prince at the passage of the Borodino.
Born in the year 1808, he witnessed, as a boy, the splendor of the first Empire, and remained, as a man, true to the political principles and views required by the grand reminiscences bequeathed him by his father. In the year 1828, he married the daughter of Jaques Lafitte, and assumed an important position in the military and political world. Richly endowed by nature with mental qualities, he combined, with a thoroughly serious yearning for the arts and sciences, an extraordinary facility in comprehending and mastering the most opposite subjects, so that it would not be an easy task to find, in the higher ranks of society, any one who combined so varied an education with so much profundity and such practical experience, as the Prince de la Moskowa.
We can not here enter upon what he did in his military and political career: we dedicate these lines only to the service he rendered music, for which his death is a real loss.
He received from Nature a great aptitude for music. This was manifested very early, and its development accelerated by an uncommon partiality for the art when no more than thirteen years of age, he had already composed a mass, performed at Lucca, and favorably received, even by good judges. What was considered particularly striking and unusual, was the fact of a boy studying the old sacred masters and uniting with this a happy imitative talent.
This tendency for the old Italian sacred music the Prince followed up, fostered, and cherished, from his earliest youth all his life; and by collecting, performing, and diffusing this music, did a very great deal to advance it. In spite of his predilection for this style, in which, also, he tried his hand in several original compositions, his musical taste and exertions were not at all one-sided. He appreciated the Beautiful in every kind of composition, and even labored himself in the most opposite style, since he subsequently turned his talent to comic opera.
Even while yet a youth he devoted a great deal of money, time, and trouble, to collecting the autograph compositions of the great masters of the sixteenth century, and soon had one of the richest libraries existing, as far as old sacred music was concerned. He was not, however, contented with merely collecting, but exerted himself, likewise, to make public many of the treasures thus dug up by himself, and endeavored to restore them once more to life for the lovers of art at the present day. For this purpose, he founded, in conjunction with Adolphe Adam, the Société des Concerts for sacred and classical music. The performances of the Society attracted the most select members of the musical world in Paris, and tended very much to purify and awaken a taste for sacred compositions. He had, it is true, to struggle most, in this respect, with the Parisians’ love of novelty and change, as well as with the horrible state of sacred composition and organ-music in France generally ; but he followed up his object with indomitable perseverance, and his efforts are far from having proved ineffective. Besides, we must appreciate such efforts for art more by the will than by the deed.
That such a man, so highly gifted and educated, artistically speaking, and holding so high a position in society, was distinguished for advancing, supporting, and patronizing artists and art, is a fact which scarcely requires to be mentioned. He devoted his sympathies, both verbally and practically, to the cultivation of music in its entire scope, but more especially to that branch of it to which he was especially partial. Hence it was that historical concerts, such as those got up by Fétis, in Paris, in the first place, and afterwards those started by Delsarte, were particularly favored with his patronage. The founding of the Conservatory for Sacred Music, by Niedermayer, too, met in him with a strong supporter.
In the midst of his archaeologico-musical labors, he found time and inclination for composing comic operas, a rare occurrence in the case of a musician with so serious a turn of mind, but which was formerly often to be met with in Italy. As an instance of this, we may mention Pergolese, who gained as much praise by his comic opera, La Serva Padrona, as by his Stabat Mater. The Prince de la Moskowa produced his opera, Le Cent-Suisse, in June, 1840, at the Opéra Comique. It met with an equally favorable reception from the critics and the public at large, and ran a hundred nights. Mdlle. Darcier, one of the most pleasing and clever singers of Paris, made her first appearance in it. His second opera, Yvonne, was given, at the same theater, in 1855, but was not so successful, although it is said to be rich in melody. According to a Paris newspaper, the Prince was employed, during the latter years of his life, on a grand dramatic composition, which, according to report, is nearly completed.
As a literary man, the Prince first tried his hand on a subject perfectly unconnected with music, namely, a pamphlet on the amelioration of the breed of horses; for among his favorite pursuits was that of horse-racing, in which he played a principal part in 1828 and 1834. The opinions of one of the first sportsmen in Europe could not fail to produce a sensation, and procured him a reputation of a very different kind and in very different circles to that which he enjoyed in musical matters.
At a later period several articles, mostly of an artistic nature, written by him, appeared in the Constitutionnel, the France Musicale, and the Revue des Deux Mondes. In the last-named journal especially was published a very attractive series on Algeria, describing in a characteristic, acute, and clever manner, the impressions produced on him by his journey through the French possessions in Northern Africa.
Quoted from: New York Weekly Review. Ausg. 8, 1857.